TV campaign for gay equality starting in Miss

BRANDON, Miss. - A civil rights group is launching an advertising campaign aimed at softening religious opposition in the Deep South to equal rights for gay, bisexual and transgender people.

The Washington-based Human Rights Campaign is taking on the region's longstanding church-based opposition to homosexuality in a series of television commercials, direct-mail messages and phone-bank operations. They're designed to promote equality and legal protections to LGBT people.

The ads begin airing Monday in Mississippi, and similar spots could be used in Alabama and Arkansas.

Commercials will feature people like Mary Jane Kennedy, who's led Bible studies in her native Mississippi for decades. She has two gay sons and believes God loves them like everyone else.

Tim Wildmon of the conservative American Family Association doubts advertising will have much effect on religious attitudes.